Brits who use dating sites or watch porn are at increased risk of romance scams and blackmail

By Margi Murphy

29th June 2017,3:41 pm

Updated: 29th June 2017,3:53 pm

BRITS are facing an increased risk of “romance hacking”, the National Crime Agency has warned.

It warned that adult dating site users and porn lovers would be targeted over “the next 18 months” as cruel cyber fraudsters ramp up their attacks on the UK.

Social engineers manipulate victims into handing over cash online

The policing body – which is tasked with cracking the UK’s most serious crimes – is concerned about the growing amount of social engineering – a method in which victims are duped into falling for someone online and is coerced into sending cash to a fake lover.

It wrote in its annual report: “Social engineering is highly likely to continue to rise as an attack vector, originating most notably from West Africa.

“It is almost certain that the UK will be targeted with more romance scams and highly targeted business email compromise (BEC) campaigns in the next 18 months.”

Pam Wareing, 54, was one of these victims. The divorcee is facing jail after nicking £500,000 which she promised to send to a conman who claimed to be an American serviceman.

The pair struck up a relationship online.

But it was only after her husband left her and she pinched cash from her employer of 20 years that her lover was revealed as a con man.

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Brits who use dating sites or watch porn are at increased risk of romance scams and blackmail

During her recent trial, she revealed how she transferred it to a bank in Dubai over a 46-day period.

But the money was in the Dubai account for just seconds before it was sent elsewhere in automated transactions.

The NCA said that people using hookup and porn sites were particularly vulnerable to blackmail.

It wrote: “Attacks on adult dating and pornography websites in the past year have led to the loss of a large amount of sensitive personal and financial data, including historic information from inactive users, facilitating fraud, blackmail and extortion offences.

The Ashley Madison affair website database was hacked back in 2015 and users were blackmailed as a result

“In one breach, the exploited data included that of historic users no longer active on the site.”

In 2015 hackers released the personal details of 35 million members of the adulterous dating site Ashley Madison.

At least two deaths were linked to the leak after police in Canada reported the victims had taken their own lives.